Headaches and Posture

Have you ever glanced at your reflection in a storefront window or
mirror as you walked by and noticed your posture? Scary, isn’t it? We
all know that we should stand up straight, but we soon forget when as we
fall back into our daily routine.

Poor posture is often due to
years of standing slouched, a bad “habit” that usually starts at a young
age. Just look around the next time you’re in an airport or at a
shopping mall and notice how many people have poor posture. In fact, a
person’s posture may reflect their present attitude and reveal if
they’re happy, sad, or depressed. Poor posture may be related to
self-consciousness, especially during adolescence. It may also have a
genetic component, as we frequently see a “trait” throughout family
members with similar postural tendencies.

The most common postural fault associated with headaches
is the forward-based head and shoulders. From the side, it appears that
the head is significantly forward relative to the shoulders, the upper
back is rounded forwards, and the shoulders are rolled forwards and
rotated inward. One exercise that helps reduce this postural bad habit
is tucking in the chin and pretending a book is balancing on top of the
head. The objective is to not allow the book to slide forward off your
head and land on your toes!

It takes approximately three months of
CONSTANT self-reminding before the new “good habit” posture becomes
automatic, so be patient. Soon you’ll “catch yourself doing it right”
without thinking about it.

Frequently, posture is faulty lower
down the “kinetic chain.” The first link of the chain is the feet and
the last link is the head. Since we stand on two feet, any change in
that first link or the feet, can alter the rest of the chain, especially
areas further away like the head, resulting in headaches. For example,
if one leg is short, the pelvis drops, the spine shifts (scoliosis), the
shoulder drops and the head shifts in an attempt to keep the eyes
level. A short leg usually needs to be managed with a heel lift, an arch
support, or combination of both to properly treat the headache patient.

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This information should not be substituted for medical or chiropractic advice. Any and all health care concerns, decisions, and actions must be done through the advice and counsel of a health care professional who is familiar with your updated medical history.